Lower Salford man jailed for assaulting Montgomery Township man

NORRISTOWN — A Lower Salford man is headed to state prison for assaulting his wife’s friend after forcing his way into the man’s Montgomery Township home.

Gary Allen Eder Jr., 45, of the 200 block of Jan Drive, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 1 ½ to three years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to felony charges of burglary and aggravated assault in connection with an August 2013 incident. Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the case, also ordered Eder to complete 10 years’ probation.

As a condition of the sentence, the judge further ordered Eder to have no contact with his wife or her friend, who was the victim of the assault.

An investigation began about 7:30 p.m. Aug. 24 when Montgomery Township police were dispatched to a home in the 400 block of Rutledge Court for a report of an assault. Upon arrival, Eder’s wife told police that she chose to stay at a male friend’s home “due to the constant fighting with Mr. Eder,” according to the criminal complaint filed by Montgomery Township Police Officer Peter Byrne.

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Eder had fled the scene prior to police arriving at the home.

Eder’s wife reported that she had been receiving threatening phone calls from Eder all day, according to court papers. The woman told police she was in the kitchen of her friend’s Rutledge Court home when she noticed Eder outside on the premises. As the woman went to the front door to make sure it was locked, Eder forced the door open and was able to gain entry to the home, police alleged.

Eder allegedly grabbed his wife by the throat, pushed her against a wall and struck her in the face, according to the criminal complaint. Eder then entered a living room and struck the male friend in the face with his fist, police alleged.

“I observed injuries to (the victim) to include a laceration above his left eye and on the bridge of his nose. I also observed (the victim’s) left eye was completely swollen shut,” Byrne alleged in the arrest affidavit. “I observed blood located on the floor in the room in which (the victim) was assaulted. (The victim’s) clothes were also covered in blood.”

The man was transported to Abington Hospital in Lansdale for medical treatment, police said. Eder’s wife, who police said had redness and scratches to her throat and a swollen nose, also requested medical treatment, court papers indicate.

By pleading guilty to aggravated assault, Eder admitted that he attempted to cause serious bodily injury to his wife’s friend or caused such injury intentionally or recklessly.

Other charges of terroristic threats, recklessly endangering another person, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct, simple assault and harassment were dismissed against Eder as part of the plea agreement.